04/10/2025

SATURDAY | OCT 4, 2025

9

Two killed in car crash attack on UK synagogue

Munich airport resumes flights after drone scare

concerns include the fatal stabbing of a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy in Illinois, the stabbing of a Palestinian-American man in Texas and a mob attack on pro-Palestinian protesters in California. Incidents raising alarm over antisemitism include the fatal shooting of two Israeli employees in Washington and an arson attack on the residence of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. – Reuters BERLIN: Munich Airport in Germany resumed flights yesterday after several drone sightings forced its closure, the latest in a string of similar aviation disruptions across Europe. Airports in Denmark, Norway and Poland recently suspended flights due to unidentified drones, while Romania and Estonia have pointed the finger at Russia, which has brushed off the allegations. Munich became the latest to close its airspace on Thursday night after several drone sightings, causing more than 30 flights to be cancelled or diverted and leaving about 3,000 passengers stranded. Flights resumed yesterday, with tracking websites showing planes departing the airport at about 5:50am (0350 GMT). A spokesperson for German flag carrier Lufthansa said “flight operations have since resumed according to schedule”. “Nineteen Lufthansa flights were affected, either cancelled or rerouted, because of the the airport suspension.“ A police spokesperson said several people spotted drones around the airport at about 1930 GMT on Thursday, and again an hour later, leading to the closure of both runways for an hour. The airport said it laid out camp beds, blankets, drinks and snacks to affected passengers. German authorities have launched a search to identify the origin of the drones. The spokesperson said police helicopters were deployed but “no information is available on the type and number of drones”. The incident came ahead of German Unity Day, a national holiday, and the final weekend of Oktoberfest, which draws hundreds of thousands of people to Munich every day. The annual beer gala and funfair had already closed for half a day on Wednesday after a bomb scare. The drone sightings in Denmark and high-profile aerial incursions by Moscow in Estonia and Poland have heightened fears that Russia’s assault on Ukraine could spill over Europe’s borders. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Europe on Thursday that the recent drone incursions showed Moscow was looking to “escalate” its aggression. Germany is on high alert, saying a swarm of them had flown over the country last week, including over military and industrial sites. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said Berlin needed to “find new responses to this hybrid threat”, including potentially shooting down the drones. Denmark also raised the alarm, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen reiterating last week that only one country “poses a threat to Europe’s security, and that’s Russia”. Moscow said it “firmly rejects” any suggestion of involvement, with Russian President Vladimir Putin accusing Europe of stoking “hysteria” to justify rising military spending. EU heads of state met in Copenhagen this week to discuss bolstering the bloc’s defences with the establishment of a “drone wall”. Nato said it has“enhanced vigilance”in the Baltic following the airspace intrusions. – AFP

o Suspected attacker shot dead, three others arrested

“Israel grieves with the Jewish community in the UK.” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was among world leaders to condemn the attack. “Houses of worship are sacred places where people can go to find peace. “Targeting a synagogue on Yom Kippur is particularly heinous.” The attack came days ahead of the second anniversary of the Oct 7 attack on Israel, which inflamed passions in Britain and whose aftermath has caused friction between the British and Israeli governments. Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar accused UK authorities of failing to curb “rampant antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement”. Manchester is home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the UK. The city has witnessed several deadly terror attacks, notably in 2017, when attacker Salman Abedi detonated a homemade suicide bomb outside an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester Arena, killing 22 people and injuring hundreds. – AFP

commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism”. The attacker wore a “vest which had the appearance of an explosive device”, but police revealed that it was not functional. Aryeh Ehrentreu, 56, who spent the day praying in a synagogue minutes away, said he heard the ambulances arriving. “Then security personnel asked us to close all our doors in the synagogue, so we knew the attack took place,” Ehrentreu said, saying the incident was “extremely worrying”. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who left a European summit in Denmark early to chair an emergency response meeting in London, announced security was being boosted at UK synagogues. Addressing Jewish communities directly in a televised statement shortly after the meeting, he vowed to “do everything in my power to guarantee you the security that you deserve”. He said while antisemitism was not new, “we must be clear it is a hatred that is rising once again, and Britain must defeat it”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the “barbaric attack”.

MANCHESTER: Police said an attacker ploughed a car into a crowd outside a packed synagogue in Britain on Thursday, a Jewish holiday, before going on a stabbing spree, killing two people and leaving three wounded. Police also said they shot dead the suspect, later identifying him as a UK citizen of Syrian origin, and arrested three other people within hours of the attack in the city of Manchester, which took place as Jewish communities around the world marked Yom Kippur , the holiest holiday in the Jewish calendar. Police confirmed the two victims were Jewish men, as counter-terror police declared it a “terrorist incident”. Authorities also said three other people were in hospital with serious injuries. Police added that the three arrested were “two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s”, who were in custody “on suspicion of LONDON: The UK government yesterday said Britain is building sensors to counter lasers that adversaries might use to blind satellites or intercept and interrupt communications. The government said it would spend about £500,000 (RM2.83 million) on the project, which involves the UK Space Command and the UK Space Agency. A UK-government commissioned security review published this summer said Britain urgently needs to bolster defences for military space systems as adversaries improve their own abilities to attack in space. The Strategic Defence Review called for Britain to invest in its own space attack capabilities, along with intelligence and navigation networks as well as satellite communications. Militaries depend on satellites for communication, surveillance and guidance data for troops, warships and weapons. UK Space Command head Gen Paul Tedman said on Wednesday without their space assets, Western militaries “cannot effectively understand, move, communicate and fight”. He was speaking during a visit to the RAF Fylingdales radar station, which provides missile warning and space surveillance to the United States and Britain. European and other Western military space officials are warning about increasing hostile activity in space that could disrupt the operations of ground and sea forces. France and Germany were Europe’s two largest spenders on space last year, according to France-based consulting firm Novaspace. – Reuters Britain bolsters space defences

POINT BLANK ... A policeman sprays mace at students during a rally commemorating the 57th anniversary of the 1968 Tlatelolco student massacre in San Cristobal, Chiapas state in Mexico. – AFPPIC Turkiye considers second nuclear plant

ISTANBUL: Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Thursday the country may work with the United States and South Korea for its second planned nuclear power plant, adding that this may be via a trilateral model. Ankara has said it was in talks with Russia, China, Canada and South Korea on possible new nuclear power plants, in the northern Sinop and Western Thrace regions, to add to the Akkuyu nuclear power plant it is building with Russia. Bayraktar also said President Tayyip Erdogan had discussed cooperation on both small and

big reactors with the leaders of Canada and France, adding that the country would cooperate with the US for both small modular and conventional plant development after a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House last month. Bayraktar also said Turkiye wanted access to cheap energy and technology transfer and know-how with such investments, and that an accord providing these was reached with Russia on Akkuyu, so it would also seek the same for its second nuclear power plant. – Reuters

Woman jailed for attempted murder of Muslim child WASHINGTON: A Texas woman was sentenced to five years in prison for attempting to drown a three-year-old Palestinian-American Muslim girl in a May 2024 incident that local police said was motivated by racial bias. attempted murder and injury to a child. Wolf was indicted last year after the attack, which was condemned by then-president Joe Biden, and waived a trial by jury. three-year-old girl. The mother was also at the pool with her six-year-old son, and Wolf asked where they were from, a police report said. Wolf tried to drown the three-year-old and attempted to grab the six-year-old, the report said.

Human rights advocates note rising threats against American Muslims, Arabs and Jews since the start of Israel’s assault on Gaza. The incident occurred at an apartment complex swimming pool in Euless, Texas. Wolf had argued with the mother of the

The mother pulled her daughter from the water and the children were medically cleared after medics responded. Recent incidents raising anti-Muslim bias

Court records and proceedings cited by CBS News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram showed Judge Andy Porter sentenced Elizabeth Wolf, 43, after she pleaded guilty to